8.0 Scriptwriting, Storyboard and Animatics for Film and Animation Production

Subject : Introduction to Film and Animation

8.0 Scriptwriting, Storyboarding and Animatics for Film and Animation Production

The script is the blueprint for the story and contains dialog, character movements, and scene descriptions. Like the old adage says, “If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.” Every good movie is produced around a well-written script, and it doesn’t matter how big the budget is, how good the actors are, how incredible the explosions are, or how dynamic the visual effects are unless the story is moving, engaging, and believable. Films with high production values have been known to fl op because the script was poorly written, and rarely has a bad script been made into a good movie. Writing a script is a craft that takes time to learn and requires a tremendous amount of discipline and understanding of story structure, psychology, human dynamics, and pacing. Not only is writing a script is THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of making a movie; it’s also the cheapest. Whereas Hollywood studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars on digital effects, great actors, explosions, and car chases, the materials involved in writing a script could be nothing more than a pencil and paper—materials that cost only a few dollars. In embarking on the journey to get the perfect script, there are three paths you can take. You can write the script yourself, you can option a script that has already been written, or you can hire a writer to write the script for you. This chapter will look at these three options and at which may be the best choice for your production. Script



8.1 Storyboard
8.1.1 What are storyboards?
Storyboards are series of pictures telling the story of your film and all action in it. The drawings for storyboard are smaller and simpler version of the artwork which will appear in your film. By referring to the storyboard everyone working on the film will know what is supposed to happen and the order it happens in. Storyboard


8.1.2 Storyboard Details
The art of good storyboards is knowing the right level of detail to include. If you include too little, then your animators will be confused and you may not end up with the film you wanted. Alternatively, if you produce storyboards which are as detailed and complete as is humanly possible, you will end by devoting a great deal of time to artwork which will not appear in your final film. The smaller details of the character design will be covered by model sheets and the finer points of background images are better left until the layout stage. The ideal storyboard lies somewhere in between: not too rough as to be unclear to anyone doing animation, layout or backgrounds, but not containing any unnecessary detail either.
The amount of detail you include in your storyboard will also be affected by those to whom you are intending to show it. If you are animating and laying out the film yourself, you can afford to be fairly rough when drawing your storyboard; as long as you can understand them that are all that matters. However, sometimes you may find yourself wanting to show storyboards to people in an attempt to get funding for your film. If this is the case, then it is better to make your storyboards look as impressive as possible, even if it means spending time drawing in detail which is not strictly necessary.

8.1.3 Storyboard Size
There is not set size for storyboard drawing, although they tend to be small to avoid unnecessary detail. Some animators even do tiny thumbnail sketches for storyboards; this force them to concentrate on the bare essential of the characters’ poses, without being distracted by worry about how the drawing actually looks. Thumbnail drawings are also much quicker to draw.

8.1.4 Storyboard Timing
When you begin to draw a storyboard it may be hard to know how many drawings to do. As with detail, you need to strike a balance: if you do too few drawings there will be large intervals of time between panels. This means that the animators working on your film will have to use their own imagination and creativity to fill these gaps. Although this can be helpful since it brings fresh ideas to your film, the obvious disadvantage is that it will mean your losing a degree of control over what your finished film will look like. The alternative is to storyboard every single movement in your film, which could mean drawing two or three panels for every second. This would give you almost total control over what your animators do, but it would also mean devoting almost as much time to storyboarding the film as animating it. This is not a good idea because, although storyboards are important, they will only ever be seen by your animators; your animation will be seen by everyone watching your film.
It would make life easier if there were a firm rule of thumb which could be used when drawing storyboards; for example, drawing one panel for every five seconds of action. Unfortunately, this is not possible since the number of panels you need will depend on the action you are storyboarding. If you are drawing a storyboard for a fast-paced scene with lots of action, you might find yourself drawing a panel for every eight or ten frames. On the other hand, a storyboard for a scene featuring a close-up of two characters talking might need only one panel for ten seconds of action.

8.2 Animatics
Depending on the budget of the production, an animatic may be created once the storyboard is complete. This can be achieved in one of two ways. The storyboard can be scanned and edited in the same fashion as the 2D animatic, or alternatively, very rudimentary models may be made up and blocked out in the 3D space according to the storyboard. These models can be created specifically for the animatic, or if the modeling phase is advanced enough, wire frames of the actual character models can be used. The dialogue will be added as the reel is assembled and the basic camera movements will be incorporate. An assistant editor will assemble the finished scenes and the director and animation director will then sit down together and refine the story, timing and blocking. At this stage it is important to also involve the technical director, lead animator and modeler in order to provide operational feedback. The finished animatic reel will then need to be approved by the producer and client.
Animatics

7.0 Principles of Animation

Subject : Introduction to Film and Animation

12 basic principles of animation

7.1 Squash and Stretch
The first principle from the original twelve, is use to exaggerate the amount of non-rigid body deformations usually with the purpose or achieving a more comedic effect . Three-dimensional squash and stretch cam be implemented with a variety techniques: skin and muscle, springs, direct mesh manipulation and morphing. It can also be implemented in more experimental ways with weighting, especially for dynamics simulations, and unusual IK systems.


Illustration of the "squash and stretch"-principle:
Example A shows a ball bouncing with a rigid, non-dynamic movement. In example B the ball is "squashed" at impact, and "stretched" during fall and rebound.


7.2 Anticipation
This technique helps to guide the audience’s eyes to where the action is about to occur . Anticipation, including motion holds, is great for “announcing the surprise”. In three-dimensional computer animation it can be fine-tuned using digital time-editing tools such as time sheets, timelines, and curves. More anticipation equels less suspense. Horror films, for example, switch back and forth from lots of anticipation of total surprise.


Anticipation: A baseball player making a pitch prepares for the action by moving his arm back.

7.3 Staging
Staging, or mise-en-scène as it is also known, is about translating the mood and intention of a scene into specific character positions and actions. Staging the key character poses in the scene helps to define the nature of the action. Three-Dimensional animatics are a great tool for previsualizing and blocking out the staging before the primary, secondary and facial animation. There are many staging techniques to tell the story visually: hiding or revealing the center of interest and a chain reaction of actions-reactions are a couple of them. Staging can also be aided with contemporary cinematic techniques such as slow motion, frozen time, motion loops, and hand-held camera moves.

7.4 Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose Action
These are two different animation techniques that yield fairly different results. In the early days of hand-drawn animation pose-to-pose action became the standard animation technique because it breaks down structured motion into a series of clearly defined key poses. In straight-ahead-action the character move moves spontaneously through the action one step at a time until the action is finished. Motion capture and dynamic simulations, even three-dimensional rotoscoping, are clearly the straight-ahead techniques of three-dimensional computer animation. They can all be blended intelligently using channels.

7.5 Follow through and Overlapping Action
These are two techniques that help make the action richer and fuller with detail and subtlety. Follow-through action consists of the reactions of the character after an action, and it usually lets audiences know how he or she feels about what has just happened or is about to happen. In overlapping action multiple motions influence, blend, and overlap the position of the character. In three-dimensional computer animation a lot of the common follow-through motions of clothing and hair, for example, can be animated with dynamics simulation. The layers and channels in three-dimensional computer animation software allow us to mix and blend different overlapping motions from different areas of the character.


7.6 Slow in and Slow out (Ease In and Ease Out)
This principle of animation consists of slowing down the beginning and the end of an action, while speeding up the middle of it. A snappy effect is achieved when motion is accelerated and retarded in this way. In three-dimensional computer animation slow-ins and slow-outs can be fine-tuned with digital time-editing tools. When using motion capture techniques for cartoon-style animated characters it is essential to remind performers to do slow-ins and slow-outs, is often times seen in TV commercials and music videos where the beginning and end of the sequence are accelerated while the middle is slowed down giving it a surreal of dreamy feeling.


7.7 Arcs
Using arcs to animate the movements of characters helps achieve a natural look because most living creature move in curve paths, never in perfectly straight lines. Non-arc motion comes across as sinister, restricted or robotic. In Three-dimensional computer animation we can use software constrains to force all or some of the motion within arcs. Even motion-captured performances can be fine-tuned with curve editors, as long as the motion is not flatted.

7.8 Secondary Action
Secondary action consists of the smaller motion that complement the dominant action. In three-dimensional computer animation we can take advantage of layers and channels for building up different secondary motions, for example, a layer for hair, a layer for the character’s hat, a layer for the cape, and so on.
Secondary action: as the horse runs, its mane and tail follow the movement of the body.

7.9 Timing
Timing is the precise moment and the amount of time that a character spends on an action. Timing adds emotion and intention to character’s performance. Most three-dimensional computer animation tools allow us to fine tune the timing by shaving off or adding frames with non-linear time-editing. Timing can also be controlled and adjusted by placing each character on a separate track, and using sub-tracks for part of the character such as head, torso, arms and legs.

7.10 Exaggeration
This principles of animation usually helps cartoon characters to deliver the essence of an action. A lot of exaggeration can be achieved with squash and stretch. In three-dimensional computer animation we can use procedural techniques, motion ranges and scripts to exaggerate motion. The intensity of a moment can be increased with cinematography and editing, not just with performance.
Anime figures are characterised by exaggerated facial features, in particular the large eyes


7.11 Solid Modeling and Rigging
Solid modeling and rigging, or solid drawing as it called in the 1930s, emphasizes the clear delineation of shape necessary to bring animated characters to life. Solid and precise modeling helps to convey the weight, depth and balance of the character, and it also simplifies potential production complications due to poorly modeled character. Animation rigs are at their best when they are optimized for the specific personality and motion of the character. Pay attention to silhouettes when aligning characters to the camera.

7.12 Character Personality (Appeal)
Character personality, or appeal as it was originally called, facilitates the emotional connection between character and audience. Characters must be well develop, have an interesting personality, and have a clear set of desires or needs that drive their behavior and actions. Complexity and consistency of motion are two elements of character appeal that can be easily develop with three-dimensional computer animation. Writing down the ways in which the character moves, how he or she relates to other characters can help define the main characteristic of the character’s personality. Fine-tune the personality with the key poses and the character turnarounds.

A Few New Principles for 3D Computer Animation

7.13 Visual Styling
Visual styling in three-dimensional computer animation means more than just how things are supposed to look. Visual styling also has a significant impact on rendering, on animation techniques, and overall production complexity. As we develop a visual look we must keep in mind that it is feasible to produce within the boundaries of the project. A certain look for the skin of a beast, for example, might look cool but might also require too complex a rig, too detailed a model and too complex an animation process.

7.14 Blend Motion
It is possible today to blend motion from different sources, and we need to develop a clear approach for blending cartoon with realistic motion. Before production starts it is necessary to define clear guidelines for a variety of motion / animation styles including cartoon physics, realistic cartoon, realistic human motion and rotoscoping. Above all, we must direct live performers when capturing their motion to add intention to their movements.

7.15 Cinematography
Since we have absolute control over camera positions and movement in three-dimensional computer animation, we should make the cinematography a crucial component for our animation, not just an afterthought. The composition, lighting and sequencing of our moving images has a huge impact on storytelling. Most of this work can crystallize during previsualization and the assembly of the three-dimensional animatics. The lighting style needs to be addresses separately, since it impacts both the look and the rendering pipeline.

7.16 Facial Animation
Most of the thoughts and emotions of characters are expressed on their faces. Three-dimensional computer animation offers more facial animation control than ever before, including the subtle motion of eyelids and eyeballs. Establishing early in the process the level of facial control and techniques has a positive effects on the styling of the character and the design of the production flow. Building a catalog of facial morph targets or blend shapes for production and reuse is today as essential walk cycles.



Facial Animations

7.17 User-Controlled Animation
Computer and platform games put much of the animation control in the hands of gamers. This poses the challenge to create great animation that works regardless of what move the gamer decides to make. Games and a combination of user-controlled animation and preset/narrative animation. One of the narrative and the improvisational aspect of the game. Look at the model of participatory street theater (different from traditional stage theater) for ideas on how to constraint the gamer-action to establish strong staging. User-controlled animation relies on strong animation cycles with built-in anticipation that are able to branch smoothly into reactions shots. Fortunately many of today’s game engines have built-in intelligence that can smooth transitions between animation cycles. The combination of preset and dynamic user-controlled cameras is also unique to game.